


Death and the Maiden

by kiryuinsisters



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Classical Music, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-03 03:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1065454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiryuinsisters/pseuds/kiryuinsisters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All his life Armin had dreamt of being accepted into the state conservatorium. But now he was there would a new dream replace his old one?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> If there's two things I love it's classical music and Annie Leonhart, so for my first fanfic it's only natural I'd combine the two.
> 
> Enjoy!!

“And if I take a right turn here… Ah!”

Armin lowered the map to look at the old building in front of him. Like the rest of the conservatorium it was done in an aged brickwork style, despite the fact it was a fairly new building. It was definitely one of the smaller ones but it still gave off the same sophisticated air that Armin had come to expect from the institution.

Outside the doors was a collection of students waiting to go inside. If that was Armin’s class, then it appeared he was still in time. Technically the lecturer was supposed to have started ten minutes ago, and Armin had spent the last few blocks frantically running. He wheezed unhealthily as he kneeled over, swapping the hand his viola case was in to give his arm a break.

Armin trundled over to the group and plonked himself down on a bench. His case hit the ground beside him with a dull thud as his sweaty hands fumbled around, trying to find the original creases on the map to neatly fold it up. He could feel droplets running down from his hairline and leant into the paper to crudely wipe it off. Nearby, a kid looked over at him and chuckled. “Yo, you run a marathon or something?”

Armin tried to shrug off the question, but his violent panting was unsurpressable. The boy laughed, but not unkindly. He was big rectangular guy, with blond hair done in a military crop. “Well you can take it easy now. Apparently our strings lecturer for this semester makes a habit out of being late for his own classes.”

“That’s… good. I guess.” Armin had finally tamed the map and slid it into the front pocket of his viola case. The other kid looked down at the case as well.

“Geez, that thing’s pretty big – you play the viola?”

Armin nodded.

“You’re gonna be in high demand then, especially if you’re good. Not nearly enough violists around.” The kid extended his hand. “I’m Reiner.”

Armin wiped his sweaty hand against his shorts and shook Reiner’s. It was a big meaty hand, and the shake was perhaps a little firmer than Armin would have liked.

“I’m Armin. Nice to meet you.”

Reiner nudged the kid next to him, who was in conversation with another group. He spun around, confused. Somehow this second kid was even bigger than Reiner, though not quite as solidly built.

“Bertolt! I was just telling our new friend Armin here how we might be in need of a viola player in the near future.”

“Viola player?” Bertolt looked at my instrument case, then up at me. He smiled. “I guess that’s cool.”

“What exactly do you need me for?”

Reiner shrugged nonchalantly. “We’ve gotta form a group for assessment later this semester, so I thought why not a quartet? I play violin and Bertolt plays the cello.”

“Sounds good to me,” Armin nodded. “What about second violin?”

“Well, I do have someone in mind…” Reiner grinned devilishly as he slumped his arm over Armin’s shoulder, using his weight to point them over towards the university building. Armin skimmed the crowd.

“Who exactly am I looking for?”

“The short blonde girl. There, with the big nose.”

Armin could see the girl Reiner had described, sitting by herself with her head down and her headphones in. In her lap was an old, battered violin case with an ugly brown exterior. Her fingers were curled tightly over the edges, as if expecting it to leap off her lap.

“Do you guys know her or something?” 

Bertolt put his hands on his hips and frowned. “She went to school with Reiner and I. But, uh…”

“Annie has got serious talent. Almost as much as I do.” Reiner’s gaze softened as he looked over at the girl. “I can’t think of any other violinist I’d want to work with.”

“Reiner, she’s difficult. You know that.” Reiner ignored Bertolt, keeping his gaze fixed on Annie.

“What exactly does difficult mean?” I asked.

“Difficult – you know, uh…” Bertolt’s head bobbled as he thought, as if a word was stuck in his head and he was trying to shake it out. “Reiner?”

“Be nice Bertolt. She may not be the friendliest person in the world, but she’s reliable and a good violinist. If we make a quartet then I want her in.”

“Well, I suppose I’ve never personally had any problems with her…” Bertolt scrunched his face up apathetically. Reiner huffed out of his nostrils.

“If it makes you feel better you can wait here while our new friend here and I go and talk to her.”

“Me?” Armin went to protest, but Reiner was already marching off. He went after him, breaking into a small half-jog to try and match pace with the other boy’s longer legs and faster stride.

As they approached Annie, Armin took a good look at the girl. Her features were sharp, but not unpleasant. As Reiner said, her nose stood out from the rest of her face. It was big but nicely shaped, with a smooth bridge. Her skin was pale and she wore thick clothes, bundling herself up in them.

Reiner came to a halt right in front of the girl, waiting to be addressed. Annie continued to stare down, completely disregarding his existence. Now we were closer we could hear the soft, muffled sounds of music coming from her headphones. It was too quiet for Armin to make out the song, but loud enough that he figured she hadn’t actually heard them coming.

Reiner stood in awkward silence for a moment. He raised a hand and outstretched it to tap on her shoulder, but decided against it mid-movement and let his arm swing back down again. Instead, he cleared his throat as loudly as possible. No response.

Reiner frowned, trying to decide what the best course of action would be. Slowly, he lifted his hand again and reached out towards her left headphone. His movements were slow and calm, as if he were reaching out to a particularly timid animal. He curled his fingers around the headphone cable, and just as he was about to pull…

“Take out my headphones and I’ll take out your eyeballs.”

Reiner paused in shock. Annie still had not looked up, but an aura of fierceness now surrounded her. Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Reiner burst out into laughter. Annie looked up at Reiner, her face completely deadpan.

“Annie! It’s good to see you again.”

Annie pulled out her music player and paused it, but left her headphones in. The gesture seemed a bit rude to Armin, but after that display he really didn’t want to get on her bad side. Annie’s attention flickered over to him and they locked eyes. They were a pale blue – calm, yet dangerous. Armin smiled and lifted his hand in a short greeting. Annie didn’t return the gesture.

“Is this important Reiner?”

“I believe so.” Reiner had loosened up again and was back into his groove. “We’re after another violinist for our quartet. Interested?”

“Oh.” Annie paused in contemplative silence. “You, Bertolt and him?”

“Armin. It’s uh, nice to meet you.” Annie stared off into the distance, ignoring Armin completely.

“Your offer does save me some trouble. Fine, I accept.”

Reiner smiled at Armin. “See? I told you there’d be no hassle.” Armin laughed nervously.

The soft sound of music started again as Annie started her music player back up. Her head drooped down again, indicating she was well and truly finished with the conversation. Reiner and Armin walked back over to Bertolt, who gave them a relieved if slightly weary look upon hearing the good news.

Annie had made a strange first impression on Armin, but Reiner seemed to trust her enough. Armin decided to place his faith in Reiner’s judgement of character. Who knew, maybe the girl would even warm up to him over time?


	2. Chapter 2

Armin leant over the cardboard box, careful not to butt heads with Reiner and Bertolt. Piles and piles of sheet music sat at the bottom, all just for strings. He had heard the conservatorium archive was huge, but to think that this was just a small portion of it was mindblowing.

“So what, all this is ours?” Bertolt asked, flipping through the sheets at the top of the pile. Reiner shrugged.

“I went into the archive and pretty much pulled out one of everything. I thought you guys could help me go through them.”

Armin reached into the box, grabbing a handful of pages. He briefly flipped through them and skimmed the titles. Most were pieces he knew, or had at least heard of. It was going to be tough picking out just a few to perform.

“How many pieces do we want?”

“I’d say four or five for now. We can pick out best ones and perform those on the day.”

The three boys sat down, laying the pages on the table in front of them. Annie sat in the fourth chair, slouched over disinterestedly. Armin looked over at her curiously. “Annie? Did you want to give us a hand?”

Annie stared blankly at him, obviously not expecting to be addressed. She hoisted her messenger bag up onto the table and unzipped it, pulling out a small pile of pages herself. Tossing them onto the table, she slouched back into her chair and crossed her arms.

“We’re doing this piece. I’m not really bothered by what other ones you pick.”

Armin picked up the music and took a brief look at it. The paper was old and browned, with handwritten notation. There was no title at the top. “Is it something we’d know?”

“Franz Schubert, String Quartet number 14”

Reiner took the music from Armin, skimming over it himself. “Ahh, Death and the Maiden. No complaints here. Boys?”

Bertholt shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you how it goes off the top of my head but sure, if you guys want to.”

“Yeah, same here,” Armin nodded. “Can we find a better copy of it though? We’ve probably got a version of it there in the box.”

Reiner looked at Annie, who simply shrugged. “I’m happy with my copy. You guys can get different ones if you want.”

“We’ll have to go through them and make sure everything is the same,” Bertolt pointed out.

“Then you guys can hang onto my copy for a while.” Annie stood up, ducking into the strap on her bag. “If I’m done here then I’ll be heading off.”

“Already?” Armin asked. Annie didn’t reply, simply tucking in her chair and leaving. He looked over at the other guys, who shrugged and went back to their sheet music. “Oh. Alright then.”

“Don’t let her bother you too much,” Reiner said, not looking up from his page. “She’s always been like that. Leave her to herself, for her sake and yours. Now, how about some Fauré?”

****

Armin leant up against the brickwork of the old building, the lopsided design digging into his back through his hoodie. His hands were buried deep within the pockets at the front, as if hibernating through the winter. The bare courtyard seemed pale and lifeless with nobody else there. Class was still half an hour away, but with nothing better to do with his time Armin had come here anyway.  
It had been about a week since Armin had come here to the conservatorium, but still his quartet were the only ones he even knew the names of. Everyone was cordial enough in class, but kept to themselves for the most part. Music was taken very seriously and everyone had delved straight into their studies. It was a stark contrast to school for Armin, where most people tried to get away with as little work as possible whenever they could.

A foul smell wafted through the air and Armin scrunched up his nose. Someone around here was smoking. He was no stranger to the smell of course – rarely ever was his grandfather not surrounded by his own personal cloud of smog. However, smoking was strictly prohibited outside of the smoking zones on campus and as far as he knew there were none even close.

“Um, excuse me,” he called out, looking around for the source of the smell. A thick tendril curled around the corner of the building, as if answering his call. Armin half-jogged over and poked his head around. “You can’t… Annie?”

Annie stood in the small garden, leaning up against the wall much like Armin was before. The cigarette she held at hip height was still glowing red at the tip. Her eyebrows curled inward in a slight frown. “I can’t…?”

“Well, uh, I mean…” Armin nodded awkwardly at her cigarette. His legs tensed up, the urge to flee rising up within him. If he’d known it was her he’d have thought twice before coming around and calling her out.

Annie smooshed the end of the cigarette into the wall behind her. “Sorry. Nobody’s usually around about now.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I don’t mind, really. Of course I don’t mind.” Armin rubbed the back of his neck modestly, giving her an awkward smile. Dammit! He was babbling like an idiot. “Uh… did Reiner give you the setlist?”

“Yes, I got it yesterday.”

“Oh.” Armin shuffled from side to side. “And?”

“And what?” Annie looked off, disinterestedly.

“Well, I wanted to know what you thought of it.”

“It’s fine.”

“Oh. Cool.”

Annie stared down at the soil at her feet distantly. Armin thought about Reiner’s words the other day: ‘Leave her to herself, for her sake and yours.’ Would that really be best? Could he just leave this girl alone? He trod carefully over the garden and leant against the wall next to her, careful to still leave a couple of feet between them.

“So… why Death and the Maiden?”

Annie looked up, staring off into the distance ahead of her. She sighed deeply. “It was an old favourite of my father’s.”

“Was he a violinist as well?”

Annie turned to Armin, slightly frowning again. “Yeah. Why?”

“Oh no, no reason at all.” Annie’s face was so seriously he couldn’t help but smile. “It was my grandfather who got me into the viola. He taught me how to do heaps of stuff – sewing, cooking, you know…”

“You can sew?” Annie raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, not very cool I know…” Armin laughed, rubbing the back of his neck again. “Um, so. I’ve kinda noticed you sit by yourself in this class. Did you wanna come sit with me today?”

“Why would I want to do that?” Annie stared him down, her face completely deadpan. Armin felt his stomach sink. Was Reiner right? Did she really just want to be left alone?

“Oh, well, uh, you don’t really, uh…”

“Relax. It was a joke.” Annie brushed her hair out of her face, finally giving him the full smirk. Armin sighed with relief, smiling back. “Sit with you. Yeah, I’d like that.”


	3. Chapter 3

Armin gently slid the bow across the string, holding the final note of the piece for all it was worth. The major chord resonated through the soundproofed room, absolutely pitch perfect. The cheap concert halls and high school stages Armin had played on in the past all seemed so shoddy in comparison. Armin felt like he belonged within these padded walls, his quartet by his side.

“Heh. Not bad.” Reiner took his bow out from under his chin so he could sagely nod to himself. “It’s not perfect, but for where we are in the semester it’s sounding pretty damn good.”

“Well, we’ve all played together before so I suppose we do all have the edge on the other groups,” Bertolt noted. “All of us except Armin, that is.”

Armin squatted down next to his viola case, undoing the series of clips than ran along the side. “I didn’t think I was doing too bad…” he shrugged, laying his instrument down on the velvet interior.

“Oh, no, no!” Bertolt waved one hand around frantically in front of him, using the other to rest the cello on the floor. “I didn’t mean to imply you were doing a bad job or anything…”

Armin laughed. “Yeah yeah, I know what you meant. Anyway, are you guys ready for the big test tomorrow?”

Reiner and Bertolt groaned in unison, lolling their heads to the side. Even Annie, quietly packing away her violin in the corner, pulled a sour face at the mention of their first big exam. “We need to make a sacrifice to the gods to help us pass our test,” Reiner joked. “I volunteer Berty. What do you think? Blood of a virgin?”

“Come off it,” Bertolt grumbled. “You’re one of the best in the class. Of course you’ll pass. Me on the other hand…”

Reiner waved his hand dismissively. “Ehh, we’ll see how we go. So, meet here for practice same time Friday?”

The room collectively nodded, picking up their respective instrument cases. Bertolt opened up the door of the soundproofed room, letting in a gust of hot air. The two guys stepped out, but as Armin was about to follow he was nudged in the side. He turned around to find Annie still sitting down, using her bow to reach over and get his attention.

“Is something the matter?” Armin closed the door and sat down in the chair set to hers. Her face still held the sour expression from before.

“You’re pretty smart, right?” There was bitterness in her voice, making it sound more like an accusation than a question.

“Um, yeah? I guess. Why?”

Annie opened her mouth to speak, but froze mid-motion. Cringing, she let out a deep sigh. “I need a high mark, alright? And I don’t think I’m going to get one.”

“Well it is just the first semester,” Armin pointed out. “They hardly expect you to be getting great marks straight of the bat. Just so long as you think you’ll pass, then…”

“No. You don’t get it.” Annie clenched her fists in her lap. “I need you to help me study.”

Armin shrugged. “Sure, I can do that.”

“And I’ll get a high grade if you help me?” Annie’s gaze pierced right through him, telling him there was only one right answer to that question.

“Uhh… Let’s get started, hey? What are you having trouble with?”

“Transposition.” Annie opened the book sitting on her music stand, the life draining from her face as she looked over her notes. “It’s bad enough doing it for violin. As soon as they threw in other instruments I was lost.”

“Oh, well I can definitely help you with that.” Armin took Annie’s bow and used it as a makeshift pointer, circling the air above the page. “The most important thing really is becoming fluent with the three main clefs. That way, when you move this stuff over to here…”

Annie listened intently as Armin spoke, soaking all the information up like a sponge. Her actions showed she was just as serious as her words had been before. Maybe if she listened like this during class we wouldn’t have to do this he thought, but immediately felt bad afterwards. She really was trying her best, here with just the two of them.

“But why would you break up the melody line like that? Can you do that?” Annie rubbed her brow as she frowned at the page. She stared at the notes as if they had suddenly been translated into some alien language. Armin patiently went through his explanations as many times as was necessary for Annie to follow.

“Have you really never done this sort of stuff before?” Armin asked. Annie shrugged, though not without a little shame.

“I’ve never had anything to do with musicians outside the strings section.”

Armin went to protest further, but common sense stopped him. Did this girl really try and have as little to do with people as possible? Even other musicians? For the first time Armin actually felt a little proud that Annie was opening up a little to him, no matter how slowly it was. He smiled as he watched Annie’s expression as she scanned her page for mistakes.

“It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it. Now let’s try this one over here – you remember what key the bassoon is in, right?”


End file.
